Heat dissipating device

ABSTRACT

A heat dissipating device applied to a heat generating element includes a cooling device, a vapor chamber and a heat pipe, and the vapor chamber is attached to the heat generating element, and the heat pipe is thermally coupled to the cooling device and communicated with the vapor chamber, and the heat pipe has at least one flexible portion. The heat pipe may be bent or deformed at any angle or in any direction through the flexible portion, so that the heat pipe can be installed and aligned and the height difference can be adjusted with respect to the cooling device, the vapor chamber and the heat generating element in a better way. In the meantime, the heat dissipating device has a shock absorbing capability.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The technical field generally relates to heat dissipating devices, more particularly to a heat dissipating device applied to an electronic product such as a computer or a flat PC.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the computing speed of computer processors such as central processing units (CPU) increases constantly, the heat generated by the processors also becomes increasingly higher, and the conventional heat dissipating device composed of a heat sink and a fan no longer meets the using requirement of the present processors, and thus related manufacturers combine a heat pipe with the aforementioned heat sink to overcome the heat dissipation problem of the present processors.

In general, a conventional heat pipe comprises a metal tube, a capillary structure and a working fluid, wherein the metal tube has a sealed cavity, and the capillary structure is installed around the inner wall of the metal tube, and the working fluid is filled into the sealed cavity of the metal tube to form a heat pipe structure.

To take the limited using space of the surrounding environment and the thermal transmission at several positions or points of a heat pipe, most heat pipes are bent into an L-shape or a U-shape in practical applications. However, the bent portion of the heat pipe may cause the capillary structure to peel or fall off from the inner wall of the metal tube, so that the thermal transmission performance of the heat pipe is lowered significantly. In addition, the bent portion of the heat pipe can be bent once successfully, and if it is necessary to bend the bent portion of the heat pipe for a second time, the metal tube may be cracked easily and scrapped.

In view of the aforementioned problems of the prior art, the discloser of this disclosure based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally provided a feasible solution to overcome the problems of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a primary objective of this disclosure to provide a heat dissipating device, comprising: a heat pipe having a flexible portion and capable of bending and deforming at any angle or in any direction through the flexible portion when the heat pipe is passed and fixed to a cooling device and a vapor chamber, so that the heat pipe can be installed and aligned or the height difference can be adjusted with respect to the cooling device, the vapor chamber, and the heat generating element in a better way. In the meantime, the heat dissipating device has an excellent shock absorbing capability.

To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, this disclosure provides a heat dissipating device applied to a heat generating element and comprising: a cooling device; a vapor chamber attached to the heat generating element; and a heat pipe thermally attached to the cooling device and communicated with the vapor chamber and having at least one flexible portion.

This disclosure further has the following effects. The flexible portion includes a wrinkled ring or a spiral ring installed with an interval apart from the flexible portion, and the flexible portion contains a flexible capillary tissue therein, so that the flexible portion will not be hardened after it has been bent for several times, and the capillary tissue on the inner wall will not be peeled or fallen off easily, and the heat pipe can maintain its original structural integrity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a heat pipe of this disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a heat pipe of this disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional perspective view of a heat pipe of this disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a using status of a heat pipe of this disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of another using status of a heat pipe of this disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a using status of a heat dissipating device of this disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of another using status of a heat dissipating device of this disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a using status of a heat dissipating device of another preferred embodiment of this disclosure; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a heat pipe of another preferred embodiment of this disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The technical contents of this disclosure will become apparent with the detailed description of preferred embodiments accompanied with the illustration of related drawings as follows. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 for a heat dissipating device of this disclosure, the heat dissipating device 10 comprises a cooling device 1, a vapor chamber 3 and a heat pipe 4.

In FIG. 6, the cooling device 1 is a fin module 12 or a water cooling device, and the fin module 12 or the water cooling device has a passing portion 121. It is noteworthy that the fin module 12 is used as an example in this preferred embodiment, but this disclosure is not limited to such arrangement only.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, the vapor chamber 3 is attached to a heat generating element 200 installed on a circuit board 100, wherein the circuit board 100 of the preferred embodiment is a display card, but this disclosure is not limited to display cards only.

Further, the vapor chamber 3 has two joints 31 and contains a chamber 32 and a capillary member 33, wherein the capillary member 33 is a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member, a trench, or any combination of the above. The capillary member 33 is covered onto one or more side surfaces of the chamber 32.

In FIGS. 1 to 7, the heat pipe 4 is passed and coupled to a passing portion 121 so as to attach the cooling device 1 thermally, and the heat pipe 4 is communicated with the vapor chamber 3, and the heat pipe 4 has one or more flexible portions 41, and the flexible portion 41 includes a wrinkled ring 411 installed with an interval apart from the flexible portion 41, and the flexible portion 41 may include a spiral ring, and the flexible portion 41 contains one or more flexible capillary tissues 412 therein, wherein the flexible capillary tissue 412 includes one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a metal mesh and a fiber member, and the flexible capillary tissue 412 is substantially in the shape of a long bar. It is noteworthy that the flexible portion 41 of this preferred embodiment includes the wrinkled ring 411 installed with an interval apart, but this disclosure is not limited to such arrangement only.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, the heat pipe 4 has a plurality of smooth sections 42, and two smooth sections 42 are disposed on both sides of flexible portion 41 respectively, and the interior of the smooth section 42 is covered with a capillary structure 43, and the flexible capillary tissue 412 is disposed across and attached to the capillary structure 43, wherein the capillary structure 43 is a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member, a trench, or any combination of the above.

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 for a heat pipe in accordance with a preferred embodiment of this disclosure, the heat pipe 4 comprises two or more main-body tubes 44 and one or more mid-section tubes 45, and two main-body tubes 44 are passed or sheathed on both ends of the mid-section tube 45, and the flexible portion 41 is formed on the mid-section tube 45, and the smooth section 42 is formed on the plurality of main-body tubes 44. The main-body tube 44 and the mid-section tube 45 are coupled by soldering.

In addition, both ends of the heat pipe 4 are coupled to the two joints 31 respectively, and the interior of the heat pipe 4 and the chamber 32 are communicated with each other, and the capillary structure 43 and the capillary member 33 are attached, so that the heat pipe 4 and the vapor chamber 3 can be communicated with each other to exchange heat. In FIGS. 1 and 2, there is one flexible portion 41 in this embodiment, and the heat pipe 4 comprises two main-body tubes 44 and a mid-section tube 45. In FIGS. 6 and 7, there is a plurality of flexible portions 44, and the heat pipe 4 comprises a plurality of main-body tubes 44 and a plurality of mid-section tubes 45, and the main-body tubes 44 are passed or sheathed on both ends of each respective mid-section tube 45 respectively. Wherein, there is a plurality of flexible portions 41, and the heat pipe 4 is bent into a geometric shape such as an L-shape, a U-shape and a square shape through the plurality of flexible portions 41.

In addition, a working fluid is filled into the heat pipe 4, and the working fluid includes pure water, ammonia water, methanol, acetone, heptane, or any mixture of the above, and the change of gas and liquid phases of the working fluid is used as a heat transmission mechanism.

With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 for the assembly of a heat dissipating device 10 of this disclosure, the vapor chamber 3 is attached to the heat generating element 200, and the heat pipe 4 is thermally attached to the cooling device 1 and communicated with the vapor chamber 3, and the heat pipe 4 has a flexible portion 41, and the flexible portion 41 contains a flexible capillary tissue 412, wherein the flexible capillary tissue 412 is a metal mesh and/or a fiber member.

With reference to FIGS. 4 to 7 for a using status of a heat dissipating device 10 of this disclosure, a part of the heat pipe 4 is bent into an L-shape or a U-shape through the flexible portion 41, and the heat pipe 4 is bent into a geometric shape such as an L-shape, a U-shape, or a square shape through the plurality of flexible portions 41, so that when the heat pipe 4 is passed and coupled to the cooling device 1 and the vapor chamber 3, the heat pipe 4 can be bent or deformed at any angle or in any direction through the flexible portion 41, so that the heat pipe 4 can be installed and aligned and the height difference can be adjusted with respect to the cooling device 1, the vapor chamber 3 and the heat generating element 200 in a better way. Meanwhile, the heat dissipating device 10 has an excellent shock absorbing capability to achieve the effects of stabilizing the amount of heat generated by the heat generating element 200 and conducting the heat to the cooling device 1 quickly for heat dissipation.

In addition, the circuit board 100 has different electronic components with height differences installed thereon. Since a conventional heat pipe needs to comply with electronic components of different height, it is common that the heat pipe is not attached onto the heat generating element closely. On the other hand, the flexible portion 41 of this disclosure can be adjusted and bent in up, down, left, and right directions, so that the heat pipe 4 can bypass a higher electronic component or closely attach the heat generating element 200 by means of the flexible portion 41.

In addition, the flexible portion 41 includes a wrinkled ring 411 installed with an interval apart from the flexible portion 41, and the flexible portion 41 contains a flexible capillary tissue 412, so that the flexible portion 41 will not be hardened after it has been bent for several times, and the capillary tissues on the inner wall will not be peeled or fallen off easily, so that the heat pipe 4 can maintain its original structural integrity.

In addition, the heat dissipating device 10 of this disclosure combines the powerful planar heat dispersion capability of the vapor chamber and the linear thermal expansion of the heat pipe and adopts the characteristics of the flexible portion 41 capable of absorbing vibrations effectively and adjusting positions easily to overcome the issues of mechanical vibration and assembly tolerance of the heat dissipating device 10.

With reference to FIG. 8 for a heat dissipating device 10 in accordance with another preferred embodiment of this disclosure, the preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 8 is substantially the same as the preferred embodiment as shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, and the difference between the two resides on that the smooth section 42 of the preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 8 further has a curved section 421.

Specifically, one or more smooth sections 42 can be bent into one or more curved sections 421, and a part of the heat pipe 4 is bent into an L-shape or a U-shape through the curved section 421, and the curved section 441 matches with the flexible portion 41, so that the heat pipe 4 can be used in different circuit boards and electronic components with a height difference installed on a circuit board. Meanwhile, the heat pipe 4 can be attached to the heat generating element closely.

With reference to FIG. 9 for a heat pipe 4 in accordance with another preferred embodiment of this disclosure, the preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 9 is substantially the same as the preferred embodiment as shown in FIGS. 1 to 7, and their difference resides onto the flexible portion 41 and the plurality of smooth sections 42 are integrally extended and formed, and the flexible portion 41 is formed by punching in the preferred embodiment as shown in FIG. 9.

While this disclosure has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of this disclosure set forth in the claims. 

1. A heat dissipating device, applied to a heat generating element, comprising: a cooling device; a plate-shaped vapor chamber, attached to the heat generating element; and a heat pipe, thermally attached to the cooling device and communicated with the plate-shaped vapor chamber, and having at least one flexible portion, wherein the plate-shaped vapor chamber has a hollow interior, and a width of the plate-shaped vapor chamber is larger than that of the heat pipe.
 2. The heat dissipating device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible portion includes a wrinkled ring and at least one flexible capillary tissue selected from the group consisting a metal mesh and a fiber member.
 3. The heat dissipating device according to claim 2, wherein the heat pipe has two smooth sections disposed at both ends of the flexible portion respectively, and the smooth section is covered by a capillary structure therein, and the flexible capillary tissue is disposed across and attached to the capillary structure, and the capillary structure is formed by one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member and a trench.
 4. The heat dissipating device according to claim 3, wherein the heat pipe comprises at least two main-body tubes and at least one mid-section tube, and the two main-body tubes are passed to or sheathed on both ends of the mid-section tube respectively, and the flexible portion is formed on the mid-section tube, and each of the smooth sections is formed on each respective main-body tube.
 5. The heat dissipating device according to claim 4, wherein each of the main-body tubes is fixed to the mid-section tube by soldering.
 6. The heat dissipating device according to claim 3, wherein the flexible portion and the two smooth sections are integrally extended and formed.
 7. The heat dissipating device according to claim 3, wherein at least one of the smooth sections is bent into at least one curved section, and a part of the heat pipe is bent into an L-shape or a U-shape through the curved section.
 8. The heat dissipating device according to claim 3, wherein the plate-shaped vapor chamber has two joints and contains a chamber and a capillary member therein, and the capillary structure is covered onto at least one side surface of the chamber, and both ends of the heat pipe are fixed to the two joints respectively, and the interior of the heat pipe and the chamber are communicated with each other, and the capillary structure and the capillary member are attached with each other, and the capillary member is formed by one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member and a trench.
 9. The heat dissipating device according to claim 1, wherein the flexible portion includes a spiral ring, and the spiral ring contains at least one flexible capillary tissue therein, and the flexible capillary tissue is formed by one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a metal mesh and a fiber member.
 10. The heat dissipating device according to claim 9, wherein the heat pipe has two smooth sections disposed at both ends of the flexible portion respectively, and the interior of the smooth section is covered with a capillary structure, and the flexible capillary tissue is disposed across and attached to the capillary structure, and the capillary structure is formed by one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member, and a trench.
 11. The heat dissipating device according to claim 10, wherein the heat pipe includes at least two main-body tubes and at least one mid-section tube, and the two main-body tubes are passed to or sheathed on both ends of the mid-section tube respectively, and the flexible portion is formed on the mid-section tube, and each of the smooth sections is formed on each respective main-body tube.
 12. The heat dissipating device according to claim 11, wherein each of the main-body tubes and the mid-section tube are coupled to each other by soldering.
 13. The heat dissipating device according to claim 10, wherein the flexible portion and the two smooth sections are integrally extended and formed.
 14. The heat dissipating device according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the smooth sections is bent into at least one curved section, and a part of the heat pipe is bent into an L-shape or a U-shape through the curved section.
 15. The heat dissipating device according to claim 10, wherein the plate-shaped vapor chamber has two joints and contains a chamber and a capillary member, and the capillary structure is covered onto at least one side surface of the chamber, and both ends of the heat pipe are coupled to the two joints respectively, and the interior of the heat pipe and the chamber are communicated with each other, and the capillary structure and the capillary member are attached to one another, and the capillary member includes one or more elements selected from the group consisting of a sintered powder, a metal mesh, a fiber member, and a trench.
 16. The heat dissipating device according to claim 1, wherein the cooling device is a fin module or a water cooling device, and the fin module or the water cooling device has a passing portion, and the heat pipe is passed and coupled to the passing portion. 